Due towell documented healing properties against chronic diseases, long chain PUFA has earned considerably high market share as a dietary supplement or nutraceutical.
Further, in 2004 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared “qualified health claim” status to ω−3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid.
Therefore, both EPA and DHA have been extensively used as nutraceuticals to prevent some chronic diseases. Among various PUFA sources, marine sources such as herring, mackerel, sardine and salmon are considered as the prime sources of omega-3 fatty acids, in particular EPA and DHA.
However, growing demand on marine-derived omega-3 fatty acids has become a threat for these fish species due to over fishing for oils, and hence, there is an urgent need of alternative sustainable sources of high quality PUFAs.
On the other hand, sea food-derived omega-3 fatty acids also raise some quality problems such as heavy metal contamination and unpleasant smell and taste.
In the search of alternative sources of PUFA, marinemicroorganisms are under the spot light since they are the primary producers of PUFA in the marine environment.